1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to control of audio and video equipment and, more particularly, to use of a computer in a device having the capabilities of an audio/video receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of consumer electronics audio/video equipment have been introduced in recent years and more are expected in the near future. There are a number of formats for recording or playing back recorded signals, whether they be audio-only or video with audio, such as compact discs (CD), digital versatile discs (DVD), video cassette tapes of several types and audio tapes of several types. Additional formats and devices to play back and sometimes to record audio using the new formats continue to be introduced. In addition, there are numerous formats for recording both audio and video signals in computer mass storage some of which are beginning to approach and sometimes surpass the quality of broadcast signals and recorded formats. There are also numerous types of broadcast signals transmitted from ground-based antennas, satellites, and cable systems. New formats, transmission modes and devices to produce audio and video images therefrom continued to be introduced. However, there have been few advances in the control systems for such devices to simplify the use of such equipment.
Recently, some devices have begun to use on-screen menus and guides to simplify the programming and selection of content. Examples include VCR plus video cassette recorders, and satellite television receivers. Devices such as TuneBase® provide computer control of CD changers including title, track, and cover art information displayed on a computer monitor and television screen.
More recently, the audio and to a lesser extent video capabilities of personal computers have expanded to include streaming signals received via a network, buffered and reproduced, thereby not requiring large amounts of storage, and compressed formats such as MPEG Layer 3 (MP3), that can be reproduced with a quality between that of FM broadcasts and compact discs. There are also computer cards that can be added to a personal computer to provide a radio or television tuner, video or output to television monitors and sound and video processing capabilities for digital Dolby® and MPEG-2 video.
There have been several attempts to package devices including such components. Examples include the Philips DVX 8000™ which had audio components outside of the personal computer and the Gateway Destination™ which output computer video in, e.g., VGA format, to a large screen computer monitor. In addition, computer mass storage is used to store video signals not only by conventional computers, but also by devices such as TiVo™ and Replay TV™ which include television programming guides.
Attempts are being made to make consumer electronics more intelligent using JINI™ from Sun® Microsystems and Home Audio Video Interface from Sony®. However, there are no known systems that are effective in providing a powerful and simple control system for audio and video devices.